Daily Devotions from The Word Of God… From the heart of Ed Algreen

Posts tagged ‘Lift up’

Bible Text:20 But you, dear friends, must build up your lives ever more strongly upon the foundation of our holy faith, learning to pray in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit. 21 Stay always within the boundaries where God’s love can reach and bless you. Wait patiently for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you. 22 Try to help those who argue against you. Be merciful to those who doubt. 23 Save some by snatching them as from the very flames of hell itself. And as for others, help them to find the Lord by being kind to them, but be careful that you yourselves aren’t pulled along into their sins. Hate every trace of their sin while being merciful to them as sinners.

OBSERVATION: I can’t imagine any of us not wanting to build ourselves up! In this small, one chapter, book of Jude, he tells us that we should lean on our faith to build ourselves up. Sounds simple, but Jude goes on to share what the results might be if we truly tap into our faith in Christ. Well worth our time to meditate on this friends.

APPLICATION: God is speaking to us through His servant Jude, as we meditate on this brief, one chapter book. I believe it is very apparent that Jude is the brother of James, because just as we heard from James about how faith will lead to action, we also see that Jude is sharing that we can be encouraged and edified through our faith. However, as this occurs, we will see some changes starting to occur in our lives, such as: (1) We will make a concerted effort to stay right with God, so that we might soak in His goodness. The Scripture says that we will not want to find ourselves out of the reach of God’s love and goodness; (2) Stand in readiness of what’s in store for us. Imagine someone standing on a corner waiting for a bus. You can look at them and know that they are not just hanging around watching the cars pass by. We also should be a prepared people waiting in anticipation of our new home prepared just for us, with our Master – our Lord and Savior, as the loving host! (3) Our demeanor should be such that, armed with the power of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to help those poised to argue. Imagine the change in attitude from our ‘old’ selves when we had to counter their arguments! (4) We will be more merciful to those who doubt. Remember, before Christ, how obnoxious we got with those same individuals? We can thank God every day for softening hardened hearts with rotten attitudes. (5) With God’s grace, we will see the urgency to save the lost. I love this translation that tells us to get serious about snatching some from the very flames of hell. And then (6) We will see such value in loving the sinner, but hating the sin. This is especially hard for humans, who generally feel like they have everything in life together. But let’s also remember that we are now a new people in Christ – The only One that truly has all things perfectly put together! Friends, I believe that we could easily see from this Scripture today that all things are possible – through Christ. I believe that our hearts should also be challenged into realizing that if we are still trying to do life like we have always done, then perhaps we need to truly ask Jesus into our heart, for these changes will only occur by His grace and through His power alone. Let me encourage you today to know Christ, and know the peace, love and understanding that Jude shared with us today.

PRAYER: Thank You Lord for saving my soul, thank You Lord for making me whole, thank You Lord for giving to me, Thy great salvation so rich, so blessed, so full and free. I need thee every hour, blessed Lord. Hear my cry and change my heart, my attitude and my will. For those who will read this devotional today and can’t imagine the joy that fills my soul, please help them to see You precious Lord, and have a desire to know You personally, so that You may work miraculously in their lives also. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE:There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Wordand read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Sebring, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you atBible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!

TEXT: 3 As Saul was coming near the city of Damascus, suddenly a light from the sky flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?”

5 “Who are you, Lord?” he asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you persecute,” the voice said.

OBSERVATION:I would suggest that you click on the Scripture reference and read the context in which our Scripture comes from today. You will find that the above verses are actually displaying a miracle in the life of Saul, one who was out to murder and/or arrest every Christian and worshiper of Christ. In fact, when God intervened, Saul was on his way to the synagogues at Damascus to disrupt the Christians by arresting them and taking them back to Jerusalem. Although we see God make a total change in the life of Saul, we are also reminded of persecutors of the church – perhaps even today?

APPLICATION:Did you click on this devotional hoping that I would give you a list of the persecutors of God’s church today? You might be disappointed, because what I believe that God wants to challenge us on today, is to make sure that we have no indicators of being persecutors ourselves. Oh Brother Ed, you have really gone overboard now, for we are workers in the church, so we would never persecute the church. Friends, here are some subtle ways that I believe we persecute the work of Christ today:

Supporting the Pastors of your church – these men, and possibly women, battle with the same time constraints that the rest of us do. They receive more criticism in one month than we probably receive in a lifetime. They are often expected to stretch each dollar further than mankind has ever been able to do it. They are on duty 24/7, yet expected to be fresh and at their best every time they stand before us. If you are to be a true supporter of God’s servants – pray for them and their families; support them through constant encouragement; listen close enough to their sermons that you may want to question them on a point raised during their delivery; Lift them up before your friends instead of tearing them down. These things might be more like promoting God’s work, instead of tearing down or persecuting; by finding fault complaining; not attending church; not tithing so that God’s work might go on; etc.

Volunteer – if you are supporting the work of Christ, volunteer to help get more done each day in the ministry. Offer to help around the church office or property; offer to call shut-ins or visit the sick or hospitalized. Idle hands will lead to ridicule, or persecution, way quicker than building up a greater desire to promote the ministry of Christ;

Be an encourager – Let the pastors and lay leaders know that you are praying for them. This builds up. This gives you something positive to do instead of leaning to ridicule or persecution. Send notes of encouragement. Specifically pray for someone hurting, working for the Lord, or needing encouragement, then tell them that you prayed for them.

Friends, we can either be a worker, supporter or encourager in the world, or we could be a persecutor, ready to tear down everything and anything God puts together for good. Where do you fit?

PRAYER:Lord, I believe our default character tends to be more of a complainer or discourager. To tear down and destroy. Yet Lord, when we stop and consider that the Son of God came to earth and humbled Himself through death on the cross at Calvary, for the benefit of undeserving sinners such as I am, and you are friend. How can I but love You, my Savior and my Lord? Oh that the love of God may shine through His humble servants this day and every day, so that others may see every indication of Jesus, and never an indication of persecution of His master plan for us while here on this earth. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE:There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Wordand read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Sebring, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you atBible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!